We Belong Together
by the-eighth-hokage
Summary: Sakura's heart was broken when he left. Now that he's back, Sakura treats him as a friend, forgetting the past they had. He now tries to make her fall inlove with him, will it work?To know the pairing read and find out. Dont forget to review after reading
1. The Memories

**Chapter 1: The Memories**

**By**

**-the-eighth-hokage-**

_'Thoughts' are like this_

"Dialogues" are like this

* * *

Sakura was having a stroll around the village, taking advantage of the spare time she has on her hands, which was rarely available to the head medic-nin. She enjoyed walking around the village, until she came across the academy. _'This was where we first met. Those smiles always brightened up my day. –B-but were done, nothing more,'_ she looked down, trying to redeem herself. _'It's already in the past, Sakura. It's already written in history, you can't change it, whatever you may do.'_

She gave out a sigh before starting to explore the village some more, she soon reached a place with a vast field of flowers, surrounded with cherry blossom trees. Sakura looked around, admiring the beauty of nature_. 'This was where we had our first date.' _Cherry blossoms were once her favorite, but a certain event in her life changed it.

**Flashback 6 years ago**

They sat there, together as they watched the stars glimmering above them. They had set up a picnic place near the field, where they enjoyed each other's company.

"Sakura-chan, thanks for letting me spend some 'quality time' with you," Naruto said with one of his sweetest smiles.

"No worries, Naruto-kun. I had fun spending this day with you too. I love you Naruto," Sakura said leaning in for a short kiss. Naruto's cheeks flushed 4 shades of red, he didn't expect this from her.

The wind blew hard, carrying cherry blossoms everywhere. Naruto managed to catch one with his cupped hands, and handed it to Sakura.

"What's this for?"

"That shows how long my love lasts for you. As long as there are cherry blossoms here in Konoha, my love for you still lingers in my heart."

**Flashback Ended**

'_I can't believe that I let my self fall in to that lie.'_ She stood there clenching her fist, and her heart being filled with hate,_ 'I need to get away from here or this place might be gone in several minutes.' _

She ran back to the main road back to the hospital. Sakura soon realized that there was a road block, she needed to take a detour, _'I have a bad feeling for this.'_Her thoughts turned out to be right, while running to the hospital she came across the place she hated the most, Earth street. Now, Sakura couldn't stop the tears falling down from her emerald eyes. She wiped the tears from her face and ran faster to the hospital where she could have privacy.

She slammed the door to her office, and sat on her office chair. Her hands were now glowing bright blue-green from the enormous amount of chakra entwined on it. _'Damn, I need to get this anger out of my system.'_Sakura heard the radio on top of her table, _'What the hell is wrong with this world? Even the radio makes me remember him.'_ She was very pissed, she slammed her hand on top of the radio. Surprisingly, the radio was cut into half, and even more the table was smashed into two pieces.

"Yes! Now my anger is already gone, what am I going to do with my depression?"

She stood there in front of her halved table, crying. "W-why… why did you leave me? I thought you loved me?"

**Flashback 3 years ago**

"Sakura, I hate to tell you this but, we need to end this relationship, here and now. Trust me, it will hurt less."

"What! Are you leaving me after our three years of relationship? Are you insane? Are you trying to get me emotionally killed?"

"Sadly, I am leaving you after those 3 years. And no, I'll never do anything that can harm nor hurt you."

"Do you think that I'm not hurt on what you're saying to me? You freak! You think that a break-up can't hurt me emotionally, how harsh of you."

"If I don't break-up with you now, the hurt you feel now will be a million times sharper if I die in this mission and leave you unloved."

"Why do you insist that you'll die? You're not the Naruto I know, the Naruto I know never gives up and never goes back on his word. Who the hell are you? Why won't you just leave that stupid S-ranked mission?"

"People change! They can't live like what they used to be for their whole life, they change," his tone slightly higher. "Damn you, Sakura! You're telling me to leave the mission, Are you going berserk? M-my dream to be Hokage is nearing me, this is one of those obstacles I need to go through to get to success. So don't ever, ever tell me such a stupid thing!"

Naruto raised his hand and slapped Sakura. She looked at him with confusion, more tears started to fall from her emerald eyes. Naruto looked at her, regretting what he had just done.

"S-sorry, Sakura, I didn't mean to—

"You've changed, a lot."

-- hurt you."

Sakura reached for a kunai from her pocket and handed it to Naruto.

"Well then, if you want to me to be happy with this, kill me now. I'll be happier to know that I die in the hands of the man that I love."

He didn't reply, he just dropped the kunai and hugged Sakura. Tears fell from his sapphire eyes as they broke from their hug.

"This will be your last kiss from me," he kissed her. It didn't last long, but it was a kiss to remember for a lifetime.

They parted. Naruto left, running into the dark woods, _'I love you Sakura. I wish you find someone that will earn and deserve you, someone who'll love you for their whole life. A scum like me doesn't deserve to be loved by an amazing person like you.'_

"N-naruto." She stood there, crying in the rain looking like a child being abandoned by her parents. She didn't move, she stayed there until she collapsed from the coldness of her body. At dawn she was found by a villager and rushed to the hospital where she was treated.

**Flashback ended**

"N-naruto... why did you leave me?"

_'How much more idiotic could you get? You left me for that mission, who knows maybe you already dead,'_ she shook her head.

"No! He cant be--

She was interrupted when someone barged in the room.

"Ma'am there's a patient in critical state, we need you to help in his treatment," a medic-nin reported.

"Where is he?"

"He's currently in the emergency room, he just arrived several minutes ago."

"Who is he?"

"He is..."

* * *

**Disclaimer**

**I do not own Naruto, I wish I did though.**

**Author's notes**

**A cliff hanger. **

**This chapter was somewhat like a prologue, thats why it's short. I promise you, the next ones will be longer. Please read and review. Hits and reviews motivates me to write more and improve my writing.**

**I wish you liked chapter 1**

**"The magic of first love is, it never ends"**

**Love lots,**

**-the-eighth-hokage-**


	2. He's back

**Chapter 2: He's back!**

**By **

–**the-eighth-hokage-**

**.:Minor Edit:.**

**- I deleted some minor parts and fixed some corrections. All were done to add to the story plot. Thanks for understanding.**

* * *

"Who is he?"

"He is… Namikaze Naruto." Sakura's eyes widened from what she had heard, _'Naruto in a critical state… no… he can't be.'_More tears fell from her eyes, she started to panic, imagining how serious the injuries might be. Sakura knew when she sees him, she wouldn't be able to control herself from panicking.

She ran out of the room, tears staining her face as she rushed to the emergency room. She opened the large wooden doors and she didn't believe what she saw,_'Naruto-kun.' _Naruto was in blood soaked clothes, his shirt was ripped apart to reveal the numerous deep cuts on his chest, but the worst one was on his left chest it was deep enough to see some parts of the ribs. This sight froze her, _'N-naruto…what happened to you?'_

"His pulse is weakening."

"What about his blood pressure?"

"It's slowly dropping."

"Is he breathing?"

"He isn't."

This answer almost took her soul out of her body, she knew if she couldn't get him breathing in five minutes, he'll die. Sakura immediately took action; she rushed to his side and focused chakra on her hands until it glowed blue-green, then pressed them against the wound. His body jerked from the intense effect of the chakra, it was repairing the tissues cell by cell and thus, taking a lot of time to finish.

"It's taking a lot more time than I expected."

From that point on Sakura knew that she needed to do the special technique that Lady Tsunade taught her, "The Cry of the Thousand Angels" to be able to save his life in time.

"Hold his body still."

"Yes ma'am."

Sakura did several hand signs, which made her body glow a purplish hue. When she finished the 45th hand sign, a mark along her forehead appeared, somewhat similar to Neji's. Once again, she pressed her hands on the wound itself, the technique was created to speed up the regeneration of the cells for a faster effect of healing, which will save more time.

Several seconds after she laid her hands on him the wound healed in an instant, all of the medics were amazed, they didn't know that something like that existed in this world.

"Is he breathing?"

"No."

Sakura assured herself on what she was going to do, she knew that something will happen to her if she continues this. She did a couple more hand signs, which made her glow bright white, the mark along her forehead burned, it felt like boiling water was being poured onto her forehead. Whatever the consequences were she continued the treatment, just to save Naruto's life.

The last phase of the treatment came, wings which were made out of chakra emerged from her back, it was now the time to prepare herself. She focused her chakra on her fingertips and pinned them to the exact points where the sides of the lungs were, the force was enough to make the air temperature rise. Naruto coughed out blood from the impact of the concentrated chakra, but he was now safe. On the other hand, Sakura fell down on the floor, she went unconscious from all the chakra she used up.

The medic-nins who accompanied her looked at Sakura with awe and respect, she was truly one of the best in the village. They entered them into a big recovery room that could fit two beds and medical appliances for their condition, they were also watched over by Tsunade and Shizune.

"She did it," Tsunade said as she ran her fingers through Sakura's pink hair.

"Yeah, I didn't even expect her to reach the second phase, but she went through until the third."

"She did it to save a life, which she treasured the most."

"I wonder if Sakura will forgive him for what he did to her."

"I don't know. Her heart was broken in exchange for the mission and a greater chance to prove him as a choice for the next hokage."

"How hard can this life be? They were still young when they fell in love with each other, they didn't understand how important a relationship is."

"It's hard for me to see my son to break someone's heart for his duty. I thought they would last as a couple, Sakura could have been a great daughter-in-law."

"Who knows, maybe they'll end up together again. Which reminds me, when will they get conscious again?"

"Sakura might be up in a week, but Naruto's recovery will take much more time, about a month."

"I bet Naruto will wake up earlier than a month. Is 100,000 ryo enough for the bet?"

"I don't want to bet, Shizune. I know I'm going to lose, the Kyuubi's chakra helps his wounds heal and mend."

Shizune didn't answer back, she just said her goodbyes and 'poofed' away. Tsunade then heard a loud 'poof', they turned to see Jiriaya with one of the biggest smiles.

"How is my boy Naruto?"

"He's fine, but let him sleep for now."

"Why is Sakura here?"

"It's none of your business."

'What's with her? What ticked her off again?' More random thoughts entered Jiriaya's mind as he looked at his wife.

"If you're going to ask why I'm ticked off, don't even dare to," she said with a small chuckle

Jiriaya looked at her with fear, _'What the hell is my wife doing to me? She's reading my mind… I must not think of pervy things or else she'll beat me up.'_

"What are you thinking Jiriaya?" An evil grin etched on her face.

"Well… look at the time, I need to be somewhere else. Bye!" Jiriaya gave Tsunade a small kiss on the forehead and vanished in thin air.

"Why do we put up doors when everybody just 'poofs' away?" Tsunade sat there, watching over two of the most important people in Konoha, enjoying her time off the job.

Days passed and Sakura was now back to her regular schedule, she was able to go back to her job. Sakura went back to her house after the hectic day of work, as she laid on her bed she thought about everything that just had happened.

**Sakura's POV**

_Why does it seem like that nothing has changed, but my whole world feels like it was just reborn? Naruto's back, his mother probably won't let him attend to missions until he's fully recovered, he'll stay here for a long time. How will I live with that jerk in this village? After what he had done to me, will I still forgive him? No, I can't… he doesn't know how much pain it caused to my life. But he's been through a lot too… but I don't care, he left me. Nothing in this world can make me forget how much hurt I felt when he left me like that… nothing. Damn, I'm so angry at him… but why did I save his freakin' life? Was it just an act of kindness or something else?_

"What the hell is wrong with this world?" I wailed on the top of my lungs, still crying from all the things I felt.

"I hate YOU!"

"W-why did you leave me just like that…"

_This isn't good, I'm going out of my mind. I need to get back to my senses, a good night sleep might relax me… yeah…_

**End of Sakura's POV**

Time flew fast, Sakura was able to control herself from going nuts with some help from her best friend Ino. After 2 weeks Naruto finally woke up to Neji and Tenten's faces in front of his.

"Hey Naruto's up."

"Naruto is that you? You've changed."

"Neji?"

"Yeah…"

"Who's with you?"

"You don't remember me?" Tenten said with annoyance written all over her face.

"No," Naruto murmured, as he looked at her face.

"Why y-you bas—

"She's my fiancé, Tenten."

"Well, Tenten doesn't look like what she looked 3 years ago. Congratulations to you."

"Thanks."

Neji left Naruto to Tenten to go outside and get some fresh air,_'He changed, the Naruto I knew would go crazy if he found out I was already engaged. I never saw him so calm… so serious.'_After a couple of minutes he went back to the room, to see Naruto looking blank as Tenten was eating some dumplings.

Naruto looked blankly at the ceiling, '_Will she forgive me? I'm sure that she's as mad as hell at me. But I still love her, now that I'm back… that love I once left would never be alone again. I Namikaze Naruto will vow to own her heart again, whatever it might take. Believe it.'_

"Hey Naruto, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing," he groaned, _'Why did it sound like I was lying. I tried not to show it though.'_

Awkward silence emerged, no one spoke. It was unusual to for a room with Naruto in it to be quiet. Naruto finally decided to break the silence.

"So…"

Tenten was in baffled, _'Wait… Naruto isn't as talkative and energetic as he was since I last met him._

"We're going to leave you here, but don't worry someone will watch after you.

"No, I'm fine… I don't need anyone to watch over me. I'm not the Naruto you knew before."

"That's no excuse."

"Who will it be?"

"Sakura will be with you from noon until 6 PM."

"Oh…"

"We'll be leaving you. Bye!"

Naruto was now alone, he still had to wait 3 hours before Sakura arrives. He had to think of a plan on how to say sorry to her, a good plan which could make or break their friendship. He sat there, thinking.

Naruto didn't realize that it was already noon, he spent too much time thinking. _'Three hours of thinking, am I ready?' He_ prepared himself to see her ex-girlfriend.

Sakura was about to knock on the door when she whispered to herself, "Day one of hell with the 'jerk' begins."

She gave a knock on the door, "May I come in?"

"Yeah."

She opened to see a more serious and calm Naruto,_ 'I shouldn't have helped him to live, but…"_

**.:Minor Edit:.**

**- I deleted some minor parts and fixed some corrections. All were done to add to the story plot. Thanks for understanding.**

**.:Disclaimer:.**

**I do not own Naruto. Well duh, this is called 'fan'fiction.**

**.:Author's Notes:.**

**First of all, thank you to all those who read my stories and who reviewed them. Arigatou gozaimasu.**

**I don't know if you can understand that, but it's in Japanese.**

**Back to the story, Sakura saved Naruto's life even though she despises him. Naruto, in the other hand, was trying to create a plan on how to say sorry to Sakura. And yes, Jiriaya married Tsunade and adopted Naruto as their child.**

**How will Naruto ask for Sakura's forgiveness? How will Sakura react to the situation?**

**It will be know in Chapter 3.**

**I wished you liked Chapter 2. Please don't forget to review, since you've read it already.** **This ends my first month here in fanfiction. Yay! I lasted a month on a hobby!**

**_"True love burns the brightest, but the brightest flames leave the deepest scars_."**

**Love lots,**

**-the-eighth-hokage**


	3. The 'talk'

**Chapter 3: The 'talk'**

**By**

**-the-eighth-hokage-**

She opened to see a more serious and calm Naruto, _'I shouldn't have helped him to live, but…'_Sakura wasn't able to complete her thought, something distracter her. She saw Naruto with one of those 'genuine smiles'. _'That smile, it isn't the same as the others. It's different.'_ She closed the door and sat on the chair beside the bed, Naruto's smile faded… there was complete silence. _'Well, I need to put my plan onto work now. If I just make Sakura talk first…' _Naruto was now determined to let love run over his heart once again, _'I never go back on word. I HAVE changed, but not every single thing about me. I'm still the Naruto you once loved and will again.'_

Sakura couldn't take it anymore, it was too quiet.

"So…"

Naruto just looked at her, waiting for her to say something that makes sense.

"Take off your shirt, Naruto."

What she just had said startled him, _'What the hell for?'_ But he had to follow what she says, in order for the plan to run smoothly.

"Fine," Naruto said with no emotion in his tone. He took off his shirt, not minding her and how awkward it was.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do something bad. I'm already over you, I understand now—

"I know. But, I'm not."

She acted like she heard nothing, looking like she didn't pay any attention, "I just asked you to remove it so I can check those wounds." Naruto gave a slight nod, which made him feel like his head was going to fall out,_ 'I really am badly hurt, I didn't notice till now.'_Sakura examined the wounds on his chest, keeping everything in detail for her report to Lady Hokage.

"Everything is doing fine except for the one which was cut until it reached your ribs. You should've taken care of yourself! You could have died."

"I don't care too much, I've already lost the most important thing in my life, dying isn't something to worry about." Naruto said as he was putting his shirt back on.

"I don't buy it."

Once again silence emerged in the room, tension between the two arouse. Naruto looked at the clock and sighed, _'It's time.'_

"Sakura"

"What is it, jerk?"

"I just wanted to say something."

"What is it already?

"I just wanted to say that—

There was a knock from the door, a man emerged into the room. He had jet-black hair, onyx eyes under the very cool pair of glasses he had on and a tall and slim physique. Naruto was dazed _'Sasuke?'_Sasuke walked to Sakura and gave her a kiss on the forehead,

"Hey Sakura. What are you doing here? Who's that blonde boy in front of you?"

Naruto looked at him calmly, but his blood was boiling in his veins, _'Why you bastard. You don't recognize me?'_

"It's Naruto."

"That's Naruto?! I can't believe it… I never knew an idiot like you could look as handsome as me," Sasuke teased.

"Chicken butt," Naruto said coolly,_ 'I don't think he's going to pick a fight on me right now.'_

"Hn, fine I lose," Sasuke smirked.

"Hey, how had your life been? Why do you have glasses?"

"It was okay, being together with Sakura almost everyday helped me to relax a bit. Uh… the glasses, I started to have a blurry vision, so it's mandatory."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We took Sasuke in after you left, he's now my brother. But he still carries the last name 'Uchiha'"

"Oh."

Again, there was sudden silence. Sakura looked at her watch timidly, _'It's just 10 minutes from 12 and I'm this tense. How could I live up to 6? Being inches away from him just bothers me, I remember everything that happened between us vividly in my mind. I though I was already over him? If I was, I shouldn't feel like this when he's near me. Am I really over him?' _She stole a glance at Naruto, _'He looks so calm, I bet he's already over me. I think we don't belong together anymore, we're going to be a misfit if we do. Well, I still hate him for what he did to me, that stupid jerk. CRAP!' _She wanted to leave that place immediately, but duty tied her there… _'This was an order from the Hokage.'_

"I'll see you later, I got a date so… Sayonara!"

"Bye!"

"Bye."

Sasuke left the room, all was still… no one spoke. Sakura was able to control herself, Naruto in the other hand, looked like he was sleeping with his eyes open. This wasn't uncommon for Naruto anymore, he was already used to quiet surroundings. During those 3 years, his life was full of that thing they called silence. Naruto didn't even bother to look at Sakura, his eyes seemed to be fixed at the ceiling, '_Go on ahead Sakura, say something.'_

"What were you going to say earlier."

"Err… that one. I just wanted to say sorry, you know… for everything."

"Yeah… apology half acknowledged. I won't forgive you that fast. Remember I still hate you. No, I loathe you."

Naruto looked at Sakura, _'What a lie, Sakura. I know you better than you know yourself. You're lying, I can see it from that pair of emerald eyes.'_

Naruto smirked, "As, expected… you loathe me. Guess what? I don't hate you, how I feel is completely opposite of yours."

"Are you trying to annoy me? Or are you trying to make me hate you more?"

"Neither."

"This is ticking me off."

"If this is ticking you off, think of how I am now… I'm freakishly pissed off."

"I hate you!"

"Now look who's acting like a child now? Act your age, Sakura. You're 26 already, act like it, think like one. Your inner is still childish, not like mine."

"Shut your freakin' mouth."

"You act like a CHILD. Haven't you matured?"

Every single thing in Sakura's heart was outraged, it was like her whole body will pop. _'I don't care who you are, but I know your not the jerk that I fallen in love with. I just want to beat the crap out of you, so be ready.'_She stood up, clenching her bare fist. Sakura took a chance and punched Naruto, aiming for his forehead. Naruto knew this was coming, everything was going smoothly. He grasped her fist before it was able to touch his head, the grip was loose for it won't hurt too much, _'I love you Sakura, and I will never do anything to harm nor hurt you.'_

"Fine, let's just settle this. Let's start a new conversation. A decent one, at least," Naruto said, removing his hold on Sakura's fist.

"Hmph," Sakura annoyingly answered as she crossed her arms.

"So what happened to the others?"

"I think you already know that Neji and Tenten are going to be married soon. Shikamaru and Temari are dating, but they make it look like they're already married, they're like a cat and a dog stuck with each other. Hinata is now the legitimate heiress to the Hyuuga clan. Ino is doing fine with managing the whole Yamanaka Flower Shop and all of us now are well known jounins."

"I expected many things to happen while I was gone and I was right."

"So… what happened to you?"

"Who, me? Going on an S-Ranked mission all alone, for the 3 long years, isn't an easy job. Fighting 3 members of the Akatsuki all at once is one of the hardest things to do."

"Who were they?"

"Hidan, Deidara, and Tobi."

"Then?"

"I managed to kill every single one of them, but someone slashed a big sword against my chest. I think it was Kisame."

"It must have been painful."

"Yeah."

"But I think they survived, the Akatsuki may know some spells that can revive people."

"It is expected from S-Ranked criminals, they may have several forbidden spells under their arsenal."

"You could never go wrong on criminals."

Time flew fast until Naruto ran out of topics to talk about.

Naruto thought deeply on what he should bring up next, _'This plan isn't the best choice for me, but I have no choice but to finish it today. I need to thinks of a topic to bring up… money, power, clothes, ramen… what more? This thinking is really hard even for me.'_ Finally a suitable idea popped out of his mind.

"Have you found anyone new?"

"What do you mean by 'new'?"

"You know..." Naruto didn't know how to explain it, all that he could do was do some things with his hands. He made his hand form somewhat a heart-shape.

"Oh, that 'new'...

"Sakura, be completely honest with me."

"No, I didn't look for anyone special anymore."

"Why?"

"My heart is sick of it, the feeling of my love being wasted. The time you left me nearly killed me--

"Sakura, I —

"If you want to know how it felt, read this thing. I wrote this for you to know how badly by heart was bruised, I actually though that this would be buried with you if you DID die in the mission… but you didn't so here it is."

Sakura handed Naruto a scroll tied tight with gold cord, it looked like it was written years ago. He opened it to see Sakura's neat handwriting, and also some memorable pictures. Some pictures were from their first date, anniversaries, special occasions and other happy times they shared. Naruto looked at them with joy, _'She was so happy during those times, I miss those smiles full of joy and excitement. I left our relationship for her to suffer less if I don't come back, how stupid of me… I didn't even consider if I come back here alive. STUPID!'_

**If Only**

_**If only you knew how much it hurts to be left by the one you loved since your childhood. For all of those years I have loved you, you left me. Three long years of a relationship full of love, thrown away… like trash, not needed and never wanted. **_

_**If only you knew how lonely it felt when there was no one beside you. No one to talk to you until the sun comes up, no one to lean on when times get rough, no one to tell you "I love you" and no one to give you even the slightest hint of care.**_

_**If only you knew how hard it was to know that no one was thinking about how much they loved you. The feeling of being loved gone, vanishing into thin air… being left all alone in this world knowing that no one has that special feeling for you. **_

_**If only you knew that when I tell anyone that I'm already over it, I still wasn't. My heart was still crushed into a million tears, those that you couldn't see.**_

_**It hurts, the pain can't be out matched by any scratch, burn or bruise. It can't be cured by anything in this world, potions, medicine or elixirs. The pain of being unloved just won't go away.**_

_**But now I am over you, I just wanted to let you know that I loved you so dearly. I don't know if this will be read or will just be buried with you in your grave. But now, I'm just happy to lift off so much weight off my shoulders.**_

Naruto looked at the letter, regretting that he had left her. At the end of the letter, some words were blurred by tear drops when it was written. Naruto couldn't describe a thing he felt at that time, _'If only I didn't love you, you wouldn't be hurt like this. Why did I fall for you?'_He turned around to see Sakura's crippled form, on her knees, he approached her and lifted her chin slightly; he saw tears trailing from her emerald eyes. Naruto couldn't take it anymore, it was just too much for one day, and he needed some time alone… to recollect himself.

"Don't cry," Naruto said in his old caring tone.

"You shouldn't have changed, I really missed that tone of you voice."

Naruto gave her a small laugh, "I have changed but not everything about me."

Sakura looked at him with curiosity, "Like how?"

"I still love ramen. Care to treat me?"

Laughing was what he heard… it was rare for Sakura to laugh, "Yeah, when you get back from the hospital. I promise." She smiled and put out her pinky finger, "Pinky promise?" Naruto looked at her, very perplexed but stuck out his finger and made a promise, "Pinky promise."

"Well, look at the time, it's already 7 PM. I should leave you alone right now, you need some valuable sleep," she said with smile.

"So it's goodbye for now, right?"

"It is, Bye-bye!"

"Bye!"

"By the way thanks for the laugh."

"No worries."

Sakura left the door, and went to her office to do some more paperwork, feeling energized for a whole week of work. She turned on the radio and enjoyed the music, while on duty.

Naruto was left all alone in the room, his mind wandering in every nook and cranny of his vivid imagination. He looked at his bedside window and tried to count the stars, just to help him fall asleep, but it didn't work. Many thoughts ran through his mind, Naruto can't relax, 'What is the problem with me?'

**Naruto's POV**

_I'm glad that I made her laugh, it made me feel so happy… so enlightened. That's what I wanted for her, to live life to it's fullest, not ever worrying about anyone. I would do almost anything to see her happy for the best reasons, that smile is very precious. The plan, ugh the plan it didn't go so well. But look on the bright side, I'm still alive. Thank God she didn't beat me up, I'm already at a bad condition today. I need some rest, but I can't get some sleep! _

**End of Naruto's POV**

After several minutes, he finally got some well-needed sleep. Somewhere between his sleep he mumbled, "Sakura… don't cry."

**.:Disclaimer:.**

**I do not own Naruto. If I did, would this be called 'fan'fiction? And I do not own the song that inspired me to do this, We Belong Together by Mariah Carey.**

**.:Author's Notes:.**

**Thank you to all of those who reviewed, anonymous or even signed. I didn't expect people to like this story. To every one who read this, Thank you very much.**

**Back to the story, this is Chapter 3: The 'talk'. This chapter is mainly about the conversation between the two. So don't think why I got crazy writing so much dialogues, this is a conversation, they're bound to talk.**

**This chapter stressed me so much, because I have difficulties in writing dialogues. I might upload the next chapter of this in two weeks or so, I'm kind of busy... school is going to start again in 3 weeks so I'm going to study.**

**By the way, I searched the web and found some pictures which can clearly show you how Naruto and Sakura looks like in this story. If you want the links don't hesitate to ask for it in the reviews or Private message me.**

**Enjoy this chapter. Please review!**

"_**You've spent your whole life running and running, trying to catch up with something that has never been there for you. And all you've done is go farther and farther away from the precious love that's been waiting for you all the time."**_

Love lots,

-the-eighth-hokage


	4. Sai's Wrath

**Chapter 4: Sai's wrath**

**By**

**-The-eighth-hokage-**

Weeks of treatments from the hospital passed, Naruto was now sent back to his room in the Hokage's mansion. Thanks to all of the help the medic-nins, he is now fine and able to do normal activities, but there was still one thing he couldn't do… train. He found himself sitting on his bed, playing with a kunai, sliding his index finger over the blunt side of the blade.

"No training is really boring. Why wouldn't the Hoka— Naruto bit his lip, remembering something that Tsunade said to him.

**Flashback 3 days ago**

"From now on, you will address me as 'mom', not 'Hokage'. Understand?"

"What for?"

"I adopted you, I should be given some respect as a mother. I also announced to the village if they talk to you, they must refer me as 'mom'. But only when they talk to you."

"But—

"No buts Naruto."

"Fine" Naruto shrugged, he didn't even like the whole concept of this conversation with her.

**End of Flashback**

"Err… I meant 'mom'. Why wouldn't mom let me train? I feel good, no more sores, or bruises. What the hell is wrong with me?"

He looked around his room, thoughts flew through his mind. Naruto remembered everything he had been through since he graduated from the Academy, _'From being called a 'demon vessel' to a respected fire nation shinobi, what an amazing journey I had. _

'"_Never give up" is what I say, but slowly I think that I really don't have a chance with Sakura, there's still so much guys out there for her. Sasuke may be her adoptive brother, but he still could have a relationship with other if they wanted to. They aren't related by blood, there weren't papers signed by the hokage to prove that he is officially a family member and he still carries his last name. But I doubt it; Sakura wouldn't date him, right? Sai is one of those guys, they didn't really have a good relationship when we were still kids but who knows, maybe they made up for their fights and became close friends. The youthful Lee, is also one. He still hasn't given up on Sakura-chan. Those were just to mention some, I wonder if I still have a shot.'_

Naruto forgot about the kunai he was playing with, he carelessly slid his finger onto the very sharp edge of the knife. His right index finger got a small cut; Naruto didn't bother to put some medicine on it. He just washed the blood off with water and concentrated his chakra on the bruised finger, it glowed red-orange and the skin began healing.

"Not too shabby, Naruto—" He heard a familiar voice; he turned to see Sakura standing in front of his door.

"--for a regular shinobi like you," Sakura said with a smile on her face.

"You haven't seen anything yet," bragged Naruto.

"I never thought you'd be cocky."

Naruto had to laugh on what she just said, even if it wasn't true. Hearing Naruto's cheerful laugh once again, made her happy. It was something that always made her giggle, 'Well here's a candidate to win the crown of cockiness from Sasuke.'

When Naruto was fully satisfied with his laughing, the expression his on face changed into a cool and serious look. "So what brings you here?"

Sakura looked at him with annoyance, as if she was waiting for him to say something. "Would it kill to welcome me into your room first?" This statement triggered a sweet smile on his handsome face.

"No, go ahead. Just leave your shoes there at the doorstep,"

When Sakura neared him; Naruto's heart started beat faster and faster, it was like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. Sakura sat beside him and explained why she went to his room.

"The Hoka—

"Um… you might want to rephrase that. Who knows maybe she hired some ANBU members to watch over me."

* * *

A group of ANBU members were watching his every move; they got taken aback when they heard what Naruto said.

"How could he know we're here?"

The other members just looked at him and confusedly shrugged.

* * *

"I m-meant, your mom sent me to give you your last treatment, and to train with you."

"Finally, an angel from heaven saves me from the evil clutches of boredom. Hurry up and heal me so we could get on our training." Naruto removed his shirt and laid on the bed, excited for what will happen for the whole day.

"Fine," Sakura mumbled, 'Is someone too excited to train, or what? It was just 3 weeks of no training and he makes it look like years without it."

Sakura built her chakra into a hollow ball and pressed it onto his chest. Naruto felt intense pain, like knives were stabbing his chest. He couldn't tolerate the pain, he screamed loudly. "Don't scream Naruto! This will just last for several more seconds so, shut up. 'Kay?" Naruto didn't even bother to answer her, he kept screaming, his face was now red. Several seconds passed, Sakura lifted the ball of chakra from his chest, "I'm done. Put your shirt and pack up your things, we'll be training with Sai and Sasuke."

Naruto looked at her with confusion, 'I thought you just said that you'll train with me, you didn't mention any of those idiots.' He put his shirt on and rummaged through his closet to find his Daisho; these were the swords he always used since he became a jonin.

* * *

The training ground was a huge field of grass surrounded with thick foliage, like as Naruto remembered 3 years ago. They looked to their side and saw Sasuke and Sai leaning against a tree, looking bored to death.

"Where the hell were you two? We were supposed to meet here 15 minutes ago," Sasuke's cheeks flushed red from his anger.

"Sorry Sasuke-kun. I kinda got off the office late, there were too many patients."

"It's okay Sakura-chan. Who's that tall blond guy with you?" Sai walked up to Naruto and started to poke his cheek.

"Why you bast—"

Sakura was just in time to stop Naruto from ending his sentence. She tried to punch him in the face, but Naruto was able to hold it off, "Punching me for no reason isn't a good practice for you." He really got on Sakura's nerves. His grip on her fist was tight, she opened her mouth and tried to bite Naruto's arm. Unfortunately, he was able to sense that she was planning something and let go of his grip. "Being rabid isn't a good idea either." They shot death glares at each others, looking like they were preparing to kill each other.

"C'mon guys, you make yourselves look like an old married couple," Sai mocked. Sakura blushed several shades of red, enough to make Sasuke notice it. Naruto was surprised at Sai's comment,_ 'How dare he call us old? But we will be one old married couple someday, but just not now.'_

"The blond is Naruto, you idiot."

Sai's eyes widened, _'That's Naruto-kun?! He looks so different, I can't even believe that he's going to look like as handsome as me or Emo king Sasuke. Crap, I need to tick him off… think Sai!'_ Finally, a light bulb in Sai's mind '_Lets see if this is going to work.'_He walked up to Sakura and put his arm over her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek, "Well less talk, more training. I'll take Sakura as my partner, Naruto and Sasuke you're teamed up together."

"What kind of idiot are you to judge who's going to be teamed up with me?"

"I never thought that a time like this will come up. But, Naruto's right. It isn't your job to get all bossy."

"Yeah Sai, Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun are right."

"There shall be no teams, we fight for ourselves. No protecting or feeling soft for anybody. But over all of these rules, no one shall kill anyone."

They all nodded in agreement. They split up and hid in the thick forest, trying to minimize the chances of being ambushed.

Naruto found a spot where he could find some cover; he spent a fair amount of time there, trying to think of a plan against the others. Then, he suddenly heard something move to his right. He became defensive and grabbed his Daisho; he walked slowly to the place where something made the leaves rustle. It came to his mind that Sakura was there: crying helplessly on her knees. But something more serious disrupted Naruto's state of being, he saw a Katana pierced through her abdomen, making her scream in pain and worse, loose more blood. The katana looked familiar, it was Sasuke's.

Despite the pain, Sakura still managed to speak some weak words. "N-naruto... p-please help me."

He didn't respond verbally, he just gave out a smirk. He grabbed his swords and in a blink of an eye stabbed them into Sakura's chest. She died, on the spot. It was a direct hit on her heart, causing it to stop pumping blood and make her await her awful death. Naruto looked to his left and spoke, "A simple Genjutsu can get me off guard, try harder Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura's hair isn't as short as you copied, it's longer by an inch. Come out and let's have a real battle." He got his swords, which were caught between stones that Sasuke used for the Genjutsu. Naruto waited for Sasuke to arrive to the spot where he stood.

On Naruto's left, Sasuke was hiding behind some bushes. _'I didn't think that you'll be able to sniff out my Genjutsu, even for that minute mistake. You have really grown into a well-skilled shinobi.'_He slid out of his hiding place and grabbed his katana, he and Naruto was now face to face.

"Let's start this already, okay?" Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"Fine"

They ran their chakra onto their weapons, until they glowed blue. Naruto aimed to hit places where they could easily be blocked, as expected Sasuke was avoiding every single one. They fought with their weapons and huge cache of jutsus. Sasuke was getting a little worried, 'Why is he so careless on his aim? His aim is always at the wrong points; he must be up to something." Sasuke managed to break away from the consecutive attacks of Naruto; he activated his Sharingan and scanned the surroundings. He noticed a form containing so much chakra underground, but it wasn't just any kind of chakra. Normal chakra is blue under his Sharingan, but this was red chakra only one person has it, Naruto. He looked at the Naruto he was fighting with; it had the same amount and kind of chakra. Sasuke got very perplexed, 'If the Naruto I'm fighting now is a shadow clone, it should have at least half of Naruto's chakra but this one has his full chakra capacity, so is the one under me. Which is the real one?' He knew that this was a trap with a little hole that you can escape through, but he wasn't able to find it. His chakra was now depleted, if he still entwines his chakra to his katana, his next stop is to the hospital.

Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but he lost to Naruto, 'He isn't the one I knew before, he has gotten stronger and more intellectual. Naruto isn't exactly an "Idiot" anymore. I never imagined that there was someone in this world that can keep up with him and actually make him learn something.' Sasuke knew that he was bound to lose; he is low on his chakra, very tired and caught in a trap.

"I quit," he simply said. Both of the supposed clones vanished, the real Naruto came down from the forest canopy.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah"

Naruto didn't even say good bye, he just leapt through the tree branches finding the others. He saw a certain black haired guy with a Kodachi on his back. He seemed to be alone, as he was leaning on a tree trunk almost half asleep. Naruto thought of the perfect thing to do, he stood with a strong stance, did a hand sign and whispered, "Mass Shadow clone jutsu." 11 clones appeared from nowhere, he instructed on of them to attack Sai from behind and the others to encase him after the first strike.

The clone slowly walked nearer to Sai, a few feet behind him he kicked Sai from behind. Sai wasn't able to notice it, but it hurt. The rest of the clones ganged up on him, every hit sent him higher to the air. When all of them had done fair damage to him, they all vanished; Sai lay on the ground badly beaten up. Naruto was now contented in his friend's condition; he tried to take a step to his right but something was preventing it. He looked to his feet and noticed a puddle of ink under him; it crawled onto his leg, gripping it tight to the ground. _'Damn, I let my guard down. He got me now.'_Sai appeared in front of him, with a smirk etched on his face, "Naruto-kun you've got to try better than that." Sai looked at him like he was going to devour him anytime now, the look in eyes were completely evil.

"Hey, remember the rules! No killing?"

"I don't care about the rules. I can kill you anytime I want, whenever I want." Naruto was now as scared as hell, his pupil shrunk and his body started to twitch, '_His gaze, that devilish thing! What did I do to him make him this angry? I know that he could kill me with a single flick of his brush; he's a member of ANBU root for more than a decade for God's sake. This could be my last day on earth, crap. I'm still too young to die.'_

Sai walked up to him and grasped his neck, causing his to have difficulties in breathing. His eyes glimmered with the desire to kill as he spoke, "Y-you bastard. After what you did to Sakura, you dared to come back here to Konoha? You left her, you fucking idiot! She tried everything to bear with the pain; food, pills, money… she even tried suicide. Now, you're trying to come back here and try to make her love you again?" His grip tightened this made Naruto's face paled His breaths were short and fast, every second trying to gasp for air. "She deserves more that what you have to offer! I'll kill you if she said so. Naruto, the point is… I love her! I don't want you or anyone else to meddle with 'us'." Sai let Naruto go free and turned his back on his blonde companion. _'You will never have my cherry blossom. That's final.'_

Naruto was on his knees, panting wore some well needed oxygen. He looked up to see Sai leaving, "You bastard! Come back here! Let's settle this the right way… the way of the shinobi, a man-to-man fight." He stood up straight, trying to ready himself for what would come next. He brushed of some ink on his clothes and got his katana.

"Well then, let's begin this."

"Fine."

They fought in the middle of the forest, slicing anything that was in their way. Justus of all sorts were eating up all their chakra; they fell down onto the forest floor, exhausted.

* * *

Sakura was moving through the forest, finding the other members of Team Seven. She wasn't paying attention to the direction she was heading; she stepped on every branch in her direction, seconds passed and she managed to get afoot on a weak thick branch. In an instant the branch snapped, Sakura was sent to a 50 meter descend. She knew if there was no one that will save her, she'll surely die. Crystals of tears formed at the corner of her green eyes, she knew it was coming her death was near. Since the beginning of the week, Sakura had dreams of her dying in different ways; disease, accidents, murder, and natural death. She now knows what those dreams were telling her; it was messages of her awaiting death. Flashbacks pressed onto her mind. She remembered those times that she felt happiness and sorrow, tears adorned her ivory cheeks as thoughts left her mind,_ 'At least I saw you again before I die. Naruto, I'm finally over you.'_Sakura was now ready to die; she crossed her hands onto her chest and closed her eyes.

She expected to feel a loud thump on the hard ground, but that wasn't what she got, Sakura felt two strong arms carrying her weight. They stopped on a sturdy branch; he set her down and examined her for any injuries. She opened her eyes to see his brother, her childhood sweetheart and her best friend in the whole world. Sakura could never forget those piercing onyx eyes that always get her attention, "Sasuke-kun."

"What the hell did you do to yourself? You were going to die and you didn't do anything about it? You should take care of yourself more! You could have died!"

"Onii chan." The looks on his eyes were different, full of fear and love. For the first time, she saw tears on his eyes.

"You know that you're the only important person in my life, since all of them died. I don't want to lose you. I have suffered from too many deaths, please don't add another one. I'd rather die myself than see another innocent life put into spare." Sasuke hugged her tightly, never wanting to be separated. 'I want all the best for you, all the happiness and love in this world. No one will ever harm you.'

"Sasuke…"

"Yes?"

"Sorry to ruin this brotherly-sisterly scene, but I can't breathe."

He blushed a dozen shades of red, "Oh sorry."

They broke from the hug, feeling really awkward. Sasuke lifted Sakura's chin up with his index finger, "Act like you never saw me cry or else I'll humiliate you in front of the whole village."

"As if I'll fall for a puny little act like that," Sakura mocked.

"Trust me, you will be embarrassed. Now get yourself together, we'll look for Naruto and Sai, Who knows they might be killing each other right now."

"I've already given up on Sai, his eyes looked really devilish earlier. Sai has been really pissed off these days; I wonder what's happening between them right now."

Sasuke gave a slight nod and they continued to travel to the direction where the chakra activity was at its peak. They were stunned on what the saw, barren land; the trees and shrubs were shredded and blown down. Blood was splattered onto the eroded land, the sight was just dreadful. Sakura's heart tingled with pain, she didn't know if they were still alive or bruised beyond repair.

They waited for someone to stir up from the blank surroundings, tension entered their bodies. Minutes passed, Sakura couldn't bear with it anymore, _'Are they still alive?'_ She wailed as loud as she can, letting all her emotions go loose and for her to relax.

"Shut up Sakura," Sasuke annoyingly said.

To their relief Naruto emerged from their left and Sai was on their far right.

Naruto was still panting heavily from all the exhaustion, _'This is really stressing me out, I just came from the hospital several weeks ago and they give me this kind of training?! Shame on them, they don't have any pity for me. I need to finish this… soon.'_

They prepared themselves for the last strike, they ran all their chakra on their weapons and charged at each other. Someone was bound to get heavily injured or even die.

* * *

**.:Disclaimer:.**

**I don't own Naruto. TT  
**

**.:Author's note:.**

A cliff hanger... again. Gomen nasai.

You might be wondering what a daisho, wakizashi and kodachi are. They are swords, m'kay? Daisho is a term used when a Wakizashi and Katana are used together.

Sorry for updating late, I was too busy watching anime. Oo School's coming up, so I wont be aple to update as often. But I will try to update it as much as I can.

Back to the story, an antagonist enters! He has black hair and named Sai. He really changed to this point. He managed to create a strong bond with sakura during those times she was lonely. Little by little, he soon knew that he was falling for her.You didn't expect Naruto to get Sakura as easy as that, right? The **brotherly-sisterly** love between Sakura and Sasuke appears.

Well, thanks to my beta reader, SmexySmone. Also to my reviewers and readers!

Please review, since you've already read it. Tell me about what you thought of this chapter.

Um... I have a question. If I will write a story with another pairing or if I write an AU (alternate universe) fic, would you read it?

_**"I'm talking about fate here - when feelings are so powerful it's as if some force beyond your control is guiding you to someone who can make you happy beyond your wildest dreams."**_

Love lots,

-the-eighth-hokage-


End file.
